“This quiet, mystical novel with its shy, withdrawn heroine reminds me of a form of prayer…. Lucy’s light, like the Chrysler Building, illuminates small, often unseen, indignities and acts of love. In Strout’s hands this city of teeming millions appears quiet, magical, focused.… The soft, slow, Didionesque rhythm of Lucy’s speech suggests we are about to hear a fairytale of Manhattan.”